HR Employment Laws You Should Know
HR employment laws are the foundation of any healthy workplace. In the simplest terms, these laws protect all parties involved in a work environment. These laws cover almost anything you can think of, including contracts, working hours, benefits, paid time off (PTO), and more, which we will delve into further in the article below. So, regardless if you are an employer or an employee, having a solid basic understanding of HR employment laws will serve you in the long run (even after you’ve quit!).
What Happens if You Don’t Follow the Laws?
Employment law is a collection of laws that govern the relationship between employers and employees. Other names for these laws include human resource law, labour law and employment law. Not adhering to them could result in serious consequences, such as financial damages or reputational harm. In addition to protecting the parties involved, these laws also outline a clear structure to establish clarity and flow within a workplace.
What Do These Laws Discuss?
These laws encompass everything from the hiring process to dismissal. In the UK, they even cover job advertisements!
Check out some of the clauses that make up HR employment law below:
| Clause | What It Means |
| Health and Safety | Employers must provide employees to work in a safe and healthy environment. This clause outlines measures such as safety equipment, occupational hazards, risks, etc. Employees have the right to know, to participate and to refuse unsafe work. |
| Minimum Wage | Employee legislation requires employers to pay employees a certain salary for their hours properly. Employers must not remunerate anything below the determined lowest wage rate. The National Living Wage currently is at £10.42 per hour. |
| Anti-Discrimination | This law is put in place to protect a particular group of people from being discriminated against. Often known as protected groups (or classes), these individuals cannot be treated unfavourably due to their sex, race, religion, disability or age. |
| Working Hours and Overtime | In the UK, the maximum average weekly working hours for most occupations are 48 (over a period of 17 weeks). Some jobs, however, are exempt from this.
Legally, employers are not mandated to pay employees overtime. Nevertheless, the pay must not be lower than the minimum wage. |
| Leave and Time Off | Employees are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave annually (including bank holidays).
Employers are to pay Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) at the rate of £109.40 per week, provided the employee must be off for 4 days straight. |
| Workers’ Compensation | According to the Employer’s Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969, employers must be responsible and cover accidents, work-related illnesses, and occupational diseases that happen at work. |
| Privacy and Data Protection | As per the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), employers must have a lawful reason to acquire and process employee data. They must be careful in handling these data and not breach it. |
| Termination and Severance | This covers fair dismissal, notice periods, and severance pay. Employers must have a fair reason to dismiss their employees. With that said, employers must state notice periods for termination in the contract for their employees. This ensures employees get enough time to bounce back and find another job. |
| Redundancies | If employers are to go through with redundancies, they must follow through a fair process with their employees. Redundant employees can be entitled to statutory redundancy pay.
Severance pay, on the other hand, is not mandatory, although employers may offer it. |
| Conflict of Interest | To protect both party’s best interests, employees should avoid situations where their interests conflict with the company’s interests. In some cases, employees are not to work with rival companies for a certain time (depending on the contract). |
| Performance Management | Employers must manage and improve employee performance. If an employee’s performance is unsatisfactory, then employers should follow a fair disciplinary process – before deciding on taking any action. This could be in the form of issuing warning letters at first. |
These are just some of the clauses in HR employment law. For more information, reach out to us.
Who Governs These Laws?
While the judicial system is the main entity governing laws, other institutions also play an important role. Different bodies, such as government agencies, legislative bodies, labour unions, and even international organisations, monitor the practise of these laws. These bodies play a crucial role in upholding the law and ensuring fairness.
The first step in enforcing these laws is legal action — the repercussions include injections, penalties, and suspension of business activities. In more severe cases, guilty employers can face criminal charges.
Other methods of enforcement can be labour inspections or collective bargaining agreements. For example, Local authorities of the Health Safety Executive usually carry out labor inspection. These authorities are responsible for ensuring employers adhere to HR regulations, such as following stipulated working hours, minimum wages, and discrimination laws. Additionally, said authorities can also issue improvement and prohibition notices.
This would give the company another chance to rectify its wrongdoings in a given time frame. Failure to rectify this would most likely result in prosecution and fines.
Need a Hand? We’ve Got You.
Struggling to sleep over HR employment laws? We understand HR laws can get quite complex…
That’s why we’re here to help you navigate them so you can focus on your company’s core competencies. 3E Accounting is recognised by thousands of companies worldwide for providing stellar HR services. Our multidisciplinary team will help you with recruitment, payroll, taxation, auditing, and more.
